U.S. patent application number 11/958232 was filed with the patent office on 2009-06-18 for method and apparatus for dynamic location-based message notification.
Invention is credited to Leopold Strahs.
Application Number | 20090156161 11/958232 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40753916 |
Filed Date | 2009-06-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090156161 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Strahs; Leopold |
June 18, 2009 |
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DYNAMIC LOCATION-BASED MESSAGE
NOTIFICATION
Abstract
In one embodiment, the present invention is a method and
apparatus for dynamic location-based message notification. In one
embodiment, a method for providing alerts to a computing device
includes identifying, via a set of location-specific computing
resources, a current location of the computing device and sending
at least one alert to the computing device, based on the current
location.
Inventors: |
Strahs; Leopold;
(Williamsburg, VA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
AT & T LEGAL DEPARTMENT - WT
PATENT DOCKETING, ROOM 2A-207, ONE AT& T WAY
BEDMINSTER
NJ
07921
US
|
Family ID: |
40753916 |
Appl. No.: |
11/958232 |
Filed: |
December 17, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/404.2 ;
455/412.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 67/18 20130101;
H04L 67/306 20130101; H04M 3/42348 20130101; H04W 4/02 20130101;
H04W 4/90 20180201; H04W 4/029 20180201; H04W 68/02 20130101; H04W
4/18 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/404.2 ;
455/412.2 |
International
Class: |
H04M 11/04 20060101
H04M011/04; H04Q 7/22 20060101 H04Q007/22 |
Claims
1. A method for providing alerts to a computing device, comprising:
identifying, via a set of location-specific computing resources, a
current location of the computing device; and sending at least one
alert to the computing device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying comprises:
measuring timing of signals emitted from the computing device.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying is performed
using a global positioning system.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying comprises:
mapping an Internet Protocol address of the computing device to a
service area.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying comprises:
deleting an existing record for a location of the computing device,
once the existing record has reached a predefined age; and updating
the location of the computing device using the set of
location-specific computing resources.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending comprises: checking
one or more notification services to which the computing device is
subscribed; and determining whether any of the one or more
notification services has an alert available for the current
location.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a desktop
computer, a laptop computer, a mobile telephone, a pager, a reading
tablet, an electronic book, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a
game console, a handheld game device, or a personal music/media
player.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one alert relates to
at least one of: weather, homeland security, missing children, or
traffic.
9. A computer readable medium containing an executable program for
providing alerts to a computing device, where the program performs
the steps of: identifying, via a set of location-specific computing
resources, a current location of the computing device; and sending
at least one alert to the computing device.
10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the
identifying comprises: measuring timing of signals emitted from the
computing device.
11. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the
identifying is performed using a global positioning system.
12. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the
identifying comprises: mapping an Internet Protocol address of the
computing device to a service area.
13. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the
identifying comprises: deleting an existing record for a location
of the computing device, once the existing record has reached a
predefined age; and updating the location of the computing device
using the set of location-specific computing resources.
14. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the sending
comprises: checking one or more notification services to which the
computing device is subscribed; and determining whether any of the
one or more notification services has an alert available for the
current location.
15. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the computing
device is a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a mobile
telephone, a pager, a reading tablet, an electronic book, a
personal digital assistant (PDA), a game console, a handheld game
device, or a personal music/media player.
16. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the at least
one alert relates to at least one of: weather, homeland security,
missing children, or traffic.
17. A system for providing alerts to a computing device,
comprising: one or more sets of computing resources, each set of
computing resources being dedicated to a specific location such
that the system is distributed over a geographic area, each of the
one of more sets of computing resources comprising: means for
identifying a current location of the computing device; and means
for sending at least one alert to the computing device.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for identifying
comprises: means for measuring timing of signals emitted from the
computing device.
19. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for identifying is a
global positioning system.
20. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for identifying
comprises: means for mapping an Internet Protocol address of the
computing device to a service area.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates generally to mobile
communications and relates more particularly to automated
notification services.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Automated emergency and other notification services are
becoming increasingly popular with users of computing devices. For
example, a user may subscribe to a notification service that sends
weather alerts, homeland security alerts, missing children (amber)
alerts, or other types of alerts to his or her mobile telephone or
other device.
[0003] Typical notification services ask a user to identify the
geographic area for which he or she desires notifications
(identified, for example, by country, by city/state, or by zip
code). One problem with such a system, however, is that once
identified, the geographic area becomes static. Thus, these
notifications may become irrelevant when the user travels outside
of the specified geographic area. Moreover, the user may not
receive relevant alerts for the geographic area within which he or
she actually is.
[0004] Thus, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus
for dynamic location-based message notification.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] In one embodiment, the present invention is a method and
apparatus for dynamic location-based message notification. In one
embodiment, a method for providing alerts to a computing device
includes identifying, via a set of location-specific computing
resources, a current location of the computing device and sending
at least one alert to the computing device, based on the current
location.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] The teaching of the present invention can be readily
understood by considering the following detailed description in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a
method for registering a user for dynamic location-based message
notification, according to the present invention;
[0008] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary database entry in which
device ID and user preferences are stored, so that a computing
device user can receive the proper alerts on his or her computing
device;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a
method for dynamically updating the location of a computing device,
according to the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a
method for providing dynamic location-based message notification,
according to the present invention; and
[0011] FIG. 5 is a high level block diagram of the dynamic
location-based message notification method that is implemented
using a general purpose computing device.
[0012] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals
have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements
that are common to the figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] In one embodiment, the present invention is method and
apparatus for dynamic location-based message notification.
Embodiments of the present invention identify the current location
of a user's computing device, and send notification messages to the
computing device based on the current location.
[0014] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a
method 100 for registering a user for dynamic location-based
message notification, according to the present invention. The
method 100 is initialized at step 102 and proceeds to step 104,
where the method 100 receives a device ID from a user. That is, the
user identifies the computing device on which he or she wishes to
receive notification messages. The device ID identifies the address
(e.g., telephone number, email address, or the like) of the
computing device. In one embodiment, the computing device is a
desktop computer, a laptop computer, a mobile telephone, a pager, a
reading tablet, an electronic book, a personal digital assistant
(PDA), a game console, a handheld game device, a personal
music/media player, or the like.
[0015] In step 106, the method 100 receives user notification
preferences. That is, the user identifies the services for which he
or she wishes to receive notification messages. For instance, if
the user travels often, he or she may wish to subscribe to services
that provide notifications for alerts relating to weather, traffic,
airline flight statuses, or the like. In a further embodiment, the
user also identifies the hours during which he or she wishes (or
does not wish) to be notified. For instance, the user may not wish
to receive traffic alerts at 3:00 AM.
[0016] In step 108, the method 100 stores the device ID and user
preferences, so that the information can be used to send relevant
notification messages to the user. FIG. 2, for example, illustrates
an exemplary database entry 200 in which device ID and user
preferences are stored, so that a computing device user can receive
the proper alerts on his or her computing device. As illustrated,
the database 200 may also include information related to the
computing device's location, such as the computing device's current
location and the time at which the current location was last
updated.
[0017] The method 100 terminates in step 110.
[0018] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a
method 300 for dynamically updating the location of a computing
device, according to the present invention.
[0019] The method 300 is initialized at step 302 and proceeds to
step 304, where the method 300 identifies the current location of a
computing device that is subscribed to one or more notification
services. For example, the method 300 may identify in step 304 that
the computing device is currently located in Orlando, Fla. In one
embodiment (e.g., where the computing device is a mobile computing
device such as a mobile telephone), the current location is
identified in substantially the same manner that is used to guide
911 emergency calls (e.g., by measuring the timing of signals
emitted from the computing device or via an internal global
positioning system). In another embodiment (e.g., where the
computing device is in communication via a Wi-Fi or static IP
connection), the current location is identified by mapping the
computing device's IP address to a service area.
[0020] In step 306, the method 300 stores the current location of
the computing device (e.g., in a database, as described above). In
one embodiment, the method 300 additionally stores the time at
which the current location is updated/stored. The method 300 then
returns to step 304 and proceeds as described above to monitor and
update the current location of the computing device.
[0021] In one embodiment, a system for dynamically updating the
location of a computing device and for providing dynamic message
notification comprises a plurality of sets of computing resources
distributed over a geographic area. For example, each zip code may
include a separate set of location-specific computing resources
dedicated to providing dynamic location-based messages to computing
devices in that zip code. This facilitates scaling of the system.
In one embodiment, such a system is facilitated by a mechanism that
clears old information regarding the location of the computing
device from the database. For instance, database entries for device
location could expire when the entries reach a predefined age
(e.g., based on the time that the device location was last
updated). Expired database entries would be deleted, allowing the
device location to be updated by the computing resources that
support the device's current location.
[0022] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a
method 400 for providing dynamic location-based message
notification, according to the present invention. The method 400 is
initialized at step 402 and proceeds to step 404, where the method
400 scans a database for locations affected by notifications, as
well as for whether a given computing device is subscribed to one
or more notification services and the time at which the current
location of the computing device was last updated. For example, the
method 400 may check a database such as that illustrated in FIG.
2.
[0023] In step 406, the method 400 determines whether there are any
notifications available for any of the services to which the
computing device is subscribed, based on the computing device's
current location. For example, the computing device's current
location may be recorded as Orlando, Fla., and the method 400 may
determine that the computing device is subscribed to a notification
service that provides weather alerts. In this case, a notification
currently available for the Orlando, Fla. area warning of
thunderstorms may be considered pertinent.
[0024] If the method 400 concludes in step 406 that there is at
least one notification available based on the computing device's
current location, the method 400 proceeds to step 408 and sends a
notification message to the computing device before returning to
step 404 and continuing to scan the database.
[0025] Alternatively, if the method 400 concludes in step 406 that
there are no notifications available based on the computing
device's current location, the method 400 simply returns to step
404 and continues to scan the database.
[0026] In one embodiment, the frequency with which the method 400
checks for notifications is programmable (e.g., by a network
provider). For instance, in one embodiment, the method 400 operates
on a periodic or ad hoc schedule (e.g., check for notifications
every x minutes). In another embodiment, the method 400 is
configured to provide notifications substantially immediately
(e.g., substantially as soon as the notifications are received by
the method 400). Immediate notifications may be desirable, for
instance, in the case of amber alerts.
[0027] Although the present invention is described within the
context of a subscription-based notification service (i.e., wherein
the user specifies the types of notification messages that he or
she wishes to receive), the concepts of the present invention may
also be applied to emergency notification services in which no
subscription may be necessary. For example, a tornado alert could
be sent to all active mobile telephones that are currently within
the area in which the tornado is expected to land.
[0028] FIG. 5 is a high level block diagram of the dynamic
location-based message notification method that is implemented
using a general purpose computing device 500. In one embodiment, a
general purpose computing device 500 comprises a processor 502, a
memory 504, a notification module 505 and various input/output
(I/O) devices 506 such as a display, a keyboard, a mouse, a modem,
and the like. In one embodiment, at least one I/O device is a
storage device (e.g., a disk drive, an optical disk drive, a floppy
disk drive). It should be understood that the notification module
505 can be implemented as a physical device or subsystem that is
coupled to a processor through a communication channel.
[0029] Alternatively, the notification module 505 can be
represented by one or more software applications (or even a
combination of software and hardware, e.g., using Application
Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC)), where the software is loaded
from a storage medium (e.g., I/O devices 506) and operated by the
processor 502 in the memory 504 of the general purpose computing
device 500. Thus, in one embodiment, the notification module 505
for sending dynamic location-based notification messages described
herein with reference to the preceding Figures can be stored on a
computer readable medium or carrier (e.g., RAM, magnetic or optical
drive or diskette, and the like).
[0030] It should be noted that although not explicitly specified,
one or more steps of the methods described herein may include a
storing, displaying and/or outputting step as required for a
particular application. In other words, any data, records, fields,
and/or intermediate results discussed in the methods can be stored,
displayed, and/or outputted to another device as required for a
particular application. Furthermore, steps or blocks in the
accompanying Figures that recite a determining operation or involve
a decision, do not necessarily require that both branches of the
determining operation be practiced. In other words, one of the
branches of the determining operation can be deemed as an optional
step.
[0031] While various embodiments have been described above, it
should be understood that they have been presented by way of
example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a
preferred embodiment should not be limited by any of the
above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only
in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *